That seemed like a pretty fair review. I'll bet that the reviewer might have preferred the Axioms if he had had a sub.
I had my MA S8s up near reference levels the other day - I don't usually listen that loud - and it occurred to me that my M60s had been a bit cleaner in the bass frequencies at that volume.
Swans are probably similarly uncapable of handling deep bass at near max levels. Just guessing.